Aging in Place
“Aging in Place” is the current terminology for growing older without having to move.
As the Baby Boomers grow older, we know that there will be phenominal growth in the elderly population. But, for several reasons, many of these people will be living outside of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
This article from in the Washington Post talks about some of the projections for this population at a local level:
Projections from the Maryland National-Capital Park and Planning Commission show that in 25 years, the number of seniors age 65 and older not living in nursing homes or other facilities in Montgomery County will increase by 103 percent. By 2030, demographers project that seniors will make up 187,000, or 16.5 percent, of the population, up from 10.7 percent today.
This Maryland county is preparing to meet the needs of the seniors living in the community by drafting a plan to support them. However, this area seems to be one of few taking action.
According to the newly-released study (pdf file), “The Maturing of America-Getting Communities on Track for an Aging Population“, just 46% of the communities surveyed are looking at strategies to deal with this rapidly growing segment.
Since, according to the report, the number of people over age 65 will double by 2030 to exceed 71 million, it is imperative that communities begin to look at resources for the elderly in areas such as health care, nutrition, fitness, housing, human services, work force development and safety.
I applaud the good work that is being done, but, one thing that sticks out to me is that with more people aging in place, though many are activitve and independent, who is going to take care of the ones who aren’t?
